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Central Valley leads in cheese production
SACRAMENTO
April 5, 2007 7:13am
"It's the cheese," say cows. (CDFA photo)
• Mozzarella is tops
• Total number of dairies drops
When it comes to cheese, California comes to the Central Valley, according to the latest figures from the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Merced County led California in cheese production last year, followed by Tulare and Kings counties, its figures say. The state's annual review of dairy production says nearly half (48 percent) of the milk produced in California is made into cheese.
Total cheese production statewide last year increased by 3.3 percent to a record 2.21 billion pounds. The shares of total cheese production were:
• Mozzarella at 48 percent (up 9.3 percent),
• Cheddar at 23 percent (down 5.0 percent),
• Monterey at 15 percent (down 2.8 percent),
• Hispanic at 5 percent (up 7.7 percent).
Provolone and Parmesan cheeses accounted for 5 percent of total California cheese production. But all is not sweet cream for California’s dairy operators, the report says.
“The dairy landscape in California continued to change in 2006 with dairies relocating within California, to other states, or shutting down,” it says. In 2006 California had a net loss of 68 dairies compared to 2005. Merced County decreased its total number of dairies by 22 compared to 2005, the largest net loss recorded by any county.
But Stanislaus County had nearly as many farmers getting out of the dairy business, with a net loss of 20 dairies in 2006 compared to the year before, the CDFA says.
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